St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-05-21
A SAVAGE BALLET.
11otley Multitudes aaA Barborous RestaVas
ties in the City Of Tangier.

A SAVAGE BALLET.
aotlsy Muls,tuaes esa Barbero.s Fsssavs.
ties in the City Of Tasgier.
The feast Of Mohammed's birthday
has recently taken place here. and. in-
deed. it took place rather unexpectedly.
The prophets birth was on the ninth day
ofthe month Of Mould. and it is the Gus
tom to begin the celebration on the first
day of the month and keep it up for ten
days. Now, the MOhammcdan month
is the lunar month, and it is the duty OF
the Bashaw, or Governor, to proclaim
the beginning of Mould when he. or
some solid citizen in whom he has con.
fidence, has seen the young moon. This
wear, acting on uncertain information,
the Bashaw started the festivities day
or rather . night-ahead Of time.
During all this period. preliminary to
She celebration Of the 9th. the country
people are AOcking into Tangier. COM
ing generally by villages, or If from
greater distances by ''kabyles" or
tribes. and they are to be seen coming
along the beach in crowds composed OF
men mounted on horses or mules, or
riding side-saddle on small donkeys, or
on foot and all carrying guns. generally
long fint-lOcks of Moorish make. and
with these many women. some with
babies slung over their shoulders.
Where all the people slept I do not know;
there were many tents on the market
place, and you could see men sleeping
in the streets at night, but the majority
must have gone back distance into
the country at nightfall. In the day.
time this crowd was very interesting to
watch. The different tribes have dis
tinguishing marks. For instance, the
Riff men shave all the head except
the space above and behind the right
ear. where they wear tutt or cue.
Others leave . tuft on top, and 50 on.
These countrymen are the descendants
of the barbarians. the Phenicians,
Greeks and Romans found here, and
are not of the race Of their conquerors.
the Arabs. That there has not been
much admixture of blood is apparent in
their features and color, which. though
>un-darkened, is uniform in the race.
and has not shades from white to black.
which marriage with negro slaves have
generated among the Arabs.
Some Of the foreign ministers aud
residents have tents put up at the head
Of the slope and invite their friends to
witness the performance. The view
from one of these tents, where I was.
was very striking. In the foreground
a dense moving crowd; dark noun
taineers, with their long guns and their
arsenals Of pistols and daggers; women
shrouded in coarse sacking. exposing
only an eye and bit of a nose to
view; grave. bearded Moors in white
haiks, IS they call the vast white folds
they put over their other raiment and
turban; Jews in their long gaberdines;
in the middle distance the town of Tan.
gier. its white cube Of houses rising
like pile of child's blocks. to the Kas-
bah or citadel. and in the distance the
blue entrance to the Mediterranean,
bounded by the Spanish hills. and thirty
miles of. the rock of Gibraltar, show
ing clearly against the eastern sky. The
mountaineers indulge in much powder
play. constant discharges, sometimes
80 near that As the guns are discharged
on the ground the gravel is blown into
ones face.
One savage ballet I noticed; about
twenty of these rufiians. divided into
two platoons, face each other. and at
the sound Of pipe and drum dance for
ward and back. passing through each
others lines, brandishing their guns
high in the air. until at . point in the
dance when one platoon gives a wild
shrek. reversing the muzzles of the
guns to the ground. and giving a si-
multaneous leap in the air, they fire of
their guns all together. Then this
platoon runs of to an attendant who
stands by with an open bag Of powder
to reload. and its place is taken in the
dance by fresh troop. l saw this
thing kept up for an hour. to the in-
tense delight Of performers and audi
ence. The feet and legs Of some Of the
participants were bleeding from wounds
made by careless discharge Of guns.
but this was quite disregarded. Gem
orally some eyes are put out and some
lives lost by explosions in these cele-
brations.-Tdngier Cor. Boston Tran